Lygodesmia. COMPOSITE. 435 



P. serpentaria.) Harpalyce altissima, Don, 1. c. ; Beck. 1. c. Nahahs altissimus, Hook. Fl. i. 

 294; DC. I.e.; Torr. & Gray, I.e., with named varieties, ocu(«s, cordutns (X.cordatus, Hcjok., 

 Prenanthes cordata, 'Willd. Hort. Berol. t. 25), deltoidcus (X. deltoideus &. X. cordatus, DC. 

 1. c., Pii iiaiithi .s deltoideus. Ell. 1. c.), & dissectus, all too transitional for pre-servation. — Woods 

 and shaded banks, Newfoundland to .Saskatchewan, renns} Ivania, and to the mountains of 

 Georgia. 



■y- -f— Involucre campanulate-oblong, of livid or greenish bracts nearlj' or quite destitute of 

 scarious marguis, imperfectly calyculate by 2 or 3 irregular and loose liuear accessory bract.'i, 

 less pendulous than in the precediug: pappus sordid-whitish: plants glabrous or a little 

 pubescent. 



P. Boottii. A span or two high, simple, several-leaved, hearing 7 to 15 racemosely dl^jjosed 

 heads : leaves deltoid-oblong and obtuse, or somewliat hastate and the upper acute, oq mar- 

 gined petioles, uppermost lanceolate, all entire or denticulate, the lamina only an inch or so 

 long : involucre half-inch long, of 10 to 15 obtuse and rather unequal proper bracts, 10-18- 

 fldwered: flowers diUl white. — Prenanthes alba, var. nana, Bigel. Fl. Bo.-t. I.e., in part. 

 Xalaliis Boottii, DC. Prodr. vii. 241 ; Torr. & (iray, 1. c. 4^2. — Alpine region, moimtains of 

 Maine, Kew Hampshire, A'ermont, and N. Xew York; first coH. by B^utt and Bir/floa-. 



P. alata. A foot or two high, the larger plants branching: leaves hastate-deltoid, acute or 

 acuminate, sharply and irregularly dentate, abruptly contracted or some of the upper cune- 

 ately decurrent into winged petioles, or small uppermost narrower aud sessile by a tapering 

 base : heads loosely and somewhat corymbusely paniculate : involucre of 8 to 10 bracts, 7-15- 

 flowered : flowers purplish : akenes slender, 3 or almost 4 lines long, at least sometimes with 



tapering summit! "iunchus luistatus, Less, in Linn. vi. 99 ; Bong. Veg. Sitch. 146. Xabalus 



alatus. Hook. Fl. i. 294, t. 102 ; Torr. & Gray, Fl. ii. 4^.3. Mukjedium hastatum, DC. Prodr. 

 vii. 250. — L'nalaska and other Aleutian Islands to Oregon ; first coll. by Chamisso, &c. 

 (Adj. Asia.) 



Var. sagittata. Leaves sagittate or hastate, with the basal lobes mostly slender and 

 prolonged: heads in a virgate panicle: involucre narrower, pale green {not livid), very 

 glabrous, subtended by more numerous slender calyculate bracts : immature akenes little 

 over 2 lines long, not tapering at summit. — Rocky Mountains, X. Montana, in Jocko Caiion, 

 Watson. Upper Flathead, Canby & Sargent. 



229. LYGODESMIA, Don. (Aryo9, a pliant t-nig. and Zka-fi-q, bundle, 

 from the vimiueoiis fasciculate stems of the typic:il specie.?.) — N. American herbs, 

 mostly smooth and glabrous ; with usually rush-like rigid or tough stems, linear or 

 scale-like leaves, and terminal or scattered heads which are always erect ; the 

 flowers pink or rose-color, produced in spring or summer. — Don, in Edinb. Phil. 

 Jour. vi. yO.5; DC. Prodr. vii. I'J.S; Torr. & Gray, Fl. ii. 484; Beuth. & Hook. 

 Gen. 530; Gray, Proc. Am. Acad. ix. 217. Genus somewhat poh'morphous. 



§ 1. Erect perennials, with striate-angled junciform stems and branches, not 

 spinescent, and terminal solitary heads : akenes slender, terete, almost filiform, 

 slishtlv tapering to summit, 4-8-nerved or at maturity nerveless : pappus soft and 

 copious, whitish or sordid. 

 * L. illncea Dox, 1. e. Fastigiateh- much branched from the deep-rooted base, about a foot 

 high : leaves persistent, small, somewhat nervose ; lower lanceolate-linear from a broadi^h 

 base inch or two long ; upper reduced to small subulate scales ; involucre at most half-inch 

 long' 5-flowered : hgules a quarter or third of an inch long. — Hook. Fl. i. 295. t. 10.3 ; Torr. 

 & Grav, 1. c. PreimidMs juncea, Pursh, Fl. ii. 498; Xutt. Gen. ii. 123.— Plains of the Sas- 

 katchewan and JImnesota to the Rocky fountains, Xew Jlexico, and even in Nevada, 

 Watson. 

 L grandiflora, Tore. & Gr.4.t. Stems separate or few from the root, simple below, a 

 'span to a foot high ; the larger plants leafy, corymbosely branched above, and bearing few 

 or numerous short-pedunculate heads : leaves all entire, of firm and thickish texture, linear- 

 attenuate 2 to t inches long, only the very uppermost reduced to scales : iuiolucre fully 

 three-fourths inch long, 5-10-flowered : ligules of equal length, showy, rose-red.— Fl. ii. 4S5. 



